Henhouse dropping board cleaner



May 26, 1931. N. P. NlELsl-:N

HENHOUSE DROPPING BOARD CLEANER Filed March .'50, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l May 26, 1931.

N. P. NIELSEN HENHOUSE DROPPING BOARD CLEANER Filed March 30. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 -.16 9 F'b9.6` 15 I 15 15 sa m/ @f I l 41 2 42 4 ,l sa ssa/Ell @i1 1 2 17 C l l I l I l 2 23 x Fig.4: Y u u 1 JNVENToR, I 38 37 38 NielsRNielseh.

BYA

ArToRNEx Patented May 26, 1931 PATENTA OFFICE NIELs P. NIELSEN, or oos'rnR, wAsHiNG'roN HENHOUSE DROPPING BOARD CLEANER Application led March 30, 1929. Serial No. 351,1G7..`

My invention relates to improvements in hen-house dropping boards, more especially those wherein long dropping boards may be cleaned quickly of an accumulation of droppings thereon by a single operative and has for an object to provide means whereby a relatively small'movement of a long dropping board is sufcient to clean the entire length thereof. l v

Another object of my improvement is to provide means for the automatic removal of the droppings from said board coincident with said cleaning movement thereof.

Another object of my improvementis to f provide for the storage of said removed droppings, nonaccessible to the hens, for farther removal at a later and convenient time i Another object ofmy improvement is to provide for the cleaning and return movements of said board to be made by the reverse operations of simple mechanism within the power of a single operative.

Another object of my'improvement is to provide mechanism suitable to cause said'return movements of said board to also serve to clean the same. Another object of my improvement is tol subdivide said long dropping boards into short units easily assembled and taken apart and convenient for storageout'of operativeV position.

Another object of my improvementv is to provide simple, durable,easily operable and notV expensive mechanism Vfor the abovestated objects.

Other objects of my improvement will appear as the description proceeds.

I attain these and other objects of my improvement with the mechanism illustrated in the two sheets of accompanying drawings, which form a part of this application, 1n

which Figure 1 vis a front elevation of my` dropping board with the mechanism for operating the same in place thereon shown in operative position in a hen house the related l portion of the floor and end and partition walls of whichare shown in section and the supporting frame' work of which is broken away above the roosting poles, Fig. 2 is the same as Fig. l with the dropping board units shown in the positions attained when at they end of the said cleaning movement thereof, Fig. 3 is a top plan view of Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a segregated bottom plan view of one of the Scrapers, Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view ofthe driving unit of the dropping board and Fig. 6 is a cross section elevation of Fig. 2 taken on the line G-Gthereof drawn on a larger scale.

-Similar characters refer to similar parts throughout. Certain parts are broken away for lack of space or to show other parts hidden thereby. y

With more particular reference to the designated parts: My dropping board is preferably located directly in front of the rear wall of the hen house of which 7 is the floor, 8 an end wall and 9'the rear wall, while 1() is a partition wall. Two parallel track stringers in a horizontal plane are fastened to sup-y porting! frame work near and parallel with vrear wall 9 and extend from end wall 8V tened to the rear wall and to uprights 16.

Said uprights are fastened to the front of front Stringer 11 with intervening blocks.

Dropping board units 17, a17 and 18 are shown. Unit 17 consists ofV a flat Hoor, with chamfered ends' 517, fastened to end beams 19, 19 and side beams 20, 20 beneath. Unit @17 'consists of floor `117 with chamfered ends 017 fastened tofend beams 19, 19V and side beams 20, 2() below. Driving i'loor unit 18 consists of a fiat floor with one chamfered p end 17 fastened to end beams'21, 21 and side beams 22, 22 beneath. Longitudinal bottom board'23 is fastenedbeneathend beams 21 of unit 18. Y f

Each of said dropping board units has ballbearing wheels 24 mounted for revolution in its side beams which are disposed to roll on tracks 12, 12 when said side beams are disposed between front guides 25 and rear guide 26'.` For the said rear guide see Fig. 6.

Three bolts 27 are extended through aligned holes in said adjacent end beams to fasten said units together and are long enough to alloT said units to be separated by intervening spaces 43, 43 as shown in Fig. 2. Said bolts are free in said holes and allow the adjacent ends of the floors of said unitsI to bear against each other as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Preferably the middle one of each set of said bolts is adjusted to determine the width of opening or space 43 and the other two bolts of each set are adjusted toserve as auxiliaries to said central bolts.

Shaft 29 is mounted for revolution-in-.bearings in stringers 11 beneath the ends of driving unit 1S when it occupies its operative position shown in Fig. 1 and also when it is in its cleaning extreme position shown in Fig. 2. Driven sprocket wheel 28 is fastened on the outer end of shaft Q9 to revolve therewith. Shaft 31 is mounted for revolution in4 bearing 3Q fastened beneath front stringer l1, see Fig. 2, and has fastenedl thereto driving sprocket wheel 30 in chain relation with said sprocket 28 and over said sprockets is placed and engaged sprocket chain Handle crank 34 is fastened on the outer end of shaft 31 and used to turn sprocket 30 which has more teeth. than. sprocket 28 thus providing a turning, advantage to the hand applied to said handle.

Sprocket chain 35 is fastened longitudinally ofl driving unit lbeneath bottom board 23' thereunder and its ends are secured by engagement with one of central bolts 27, in onev of cross beams 21, and with bolt 3G in the other of said cross beams 2l. Sprocket4 wheel. L28 is fastened on shaft 29 to engage chain 35. Chain 35 is in this case used for the purpose of a rack and in practice is found to serve very well.

rThe construct-ion is such that by reyolving` crank handle 34 backward drivingrunit 18 is moved fromv its position of operation shown in Fig. 1. to its cleaned positionshown in Fig. 2. Then by revolving said handle crank in a forward'direction saiddriving unit is returned to its position shown in Fig. 1=.

Scraper bars 37 have notched ends to engage with hooks 39 fastened to uprights-1G and in notched blocks @39 fastened on` the rear house wall. Said bars have areas 38, 33`

oneaoh end thereof to bear on said hooks and blocks. See Fig. 4.

A. scraper blade 40 is fastened to each of,l

tinuous plane from end to end to hold what` ever droppings may be deposited thereon. But on returning said dropping board to its cleaned position shown 1n Fig. 2 bolts 27 allow the units to separate and provide spaces 43 therebetween as referred to. Scraper blades 40 are so disposed that one of each is pendent centrally over each of the two spaces 43 and one over and to the rear of the rear end of unit 17. Also said scraper blades are adjusted vertically to bear on the dropping board as it passes beneath and to follow chamfered ends Z217', 017 and cl17 'downward to a short distance only and not catch to engage with the passing ends of said units.

Holders 44` are. fastened to the frame work below stringersll vertically beneath scraper blades 404 and` preferably incline downward from their front ends rearward to pass through. openings in rear wall 9 and have their open lower ends protruding through said wally at @44. rllhe said openings in the rear wall are closableby doors 45. Holders 44 are designed to receive the droppings scraped; from.` the passing dropping board unitsby'blades 40which fall through spaces 43 and over the rear end` of unit 17. rl`he front ends of the. holders extend beyond the front edge of1 the dropping board as shown andare preferably closed to prevent the entuy of hens. Yet there is suilicient opening forward of` the dropping boardv to allow disinfectants to be introduced into the holder if; desired. Any accumulation of droppings inrholders44'may be removed by usinga suitable hoe operated through opened door 45 andl deposited. in a. receptacle, such` as a` wheel barrow, placed beneath open outer end` a44 for that. purpose.

rlhe functions of the several related parts of my dropping board have been` explained during the particular description-thereof and little need be added to fully disclose the way in whichl it is cleaned of droppings.

Starting with the severalfunits ofthe board in their relative positions shown in. Fig. 1, it is assumed that their surfaces contain a litter of1 droppings. Handle 34 is grasped and; turned backward` which moves driving lll) unit 'i8 leftward till it bearsagainst stop 14 ""r and also moves units L17 and 17 in the same direction thus-,causing spaces 43 between them. The board nowoceupies the position shown in Fig. 2. During the leftward movement of the units their top surfaces pass bcunits to their operative position shown in F ig. 1, by turning crank 34 forward,during which return movement of the units droppings will collect against'the left-hand side of blades 40, the handle crank is again turned backward and the scrapers will retain said scrapings to drop them through spaces 48 except those which collect againstthe lefthand side of the left-hand blade. However, these droppings also may be removed by stopping the right handV movement of 18 before it reaches the limit, andthen lifting and retaining the lefthand scraperfclear of the board until this right hand movement is completed. Then return the scraper to its scraping position and it will be leftward of said accumulation of droppings and will retain the same during a subsequent leftward movement of the board until they are scraped into the left hand opening 43. it the conclusion of the cleaning movements'of the units they are allowed to remain in` their right-hand or operative position shown in Fig. 1. Then the cleaning operation may be completed at a convenient latter time byremoving the droppings from holders 44 as above described. Y

Driving unit 18, during the left-hand cleaning movement moves a distance equal to the length of one of equal units 17 or al? plus the added width of thetvvo spaces 43. Also unit 18 had better be extended beyond the ends of chain 35. So this unit needs to be longer than the other units of the dropping board by the added spaces 43 and a few additional inches. Although the illustrated di- `mensions of my dropping board areout of normal relation because of the limits of the drawing and but three of these abnormally short sections are shown; yet, from the dis closures above given, it easily may be understood that it is entirely practical to subdivide a dropping board, say, two hundred feet long, into connected units and simultaneously clean them all by an endwise movement of relatively small amount.

When possible,it is preferred that driving unit 18 may enter an adjoining room during the cleaning movement of the board. However, it is practical to have said board move into the open at this time and, when the cleaning is finished, the necessary opening through the end wall to allow said unit to pass may be closed by a door.

The scrapers are easily removed from their operative position for special cleaning or the like. In the event that more pressure of the scraper blades on the board is desired heavier bars 37 are used or Weights are added thereto.

The description has purposely been confined to the particular shapes, materials and related positions of the parts as illustrated, but it is desired that it shall. be understood that this disclosure reveals but one set of these elements which coordinate as intended while I have used many` other Velements moreY or less similar with good results.A Such` and similar variations are also within the purview` of this invention.

It is customaryto build in dropping boards as apart of the hen-house structure and it may appear that to make them movable would be much more expensive. This is not necessarily true since they may be factory made and thus save expensive hand labor. Furthermore there are other important advantages presented by the unit construction over the lfixed typequite aside from the important saving of time required in cleaningV among which may beV noted their fullr portability. They may be separately removed from the tracksto vbe stowed overhead, in a stack in the same or another room or for. use in another house, since with proper usage they will serve for a long time.

The disclosed means of removing the droppings from the holders may not suit in all cases. If desired to remove them from Within the house the holders may be placed horizent-ally or to slant downward toward their front ends through which their contents may be removed.

Having thus disclosed my invention, what Y I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,-

l. Hen-house, dropping-board. cleaning mechanism consisting Vof a pluralityof connected dropping-board units disposed for abutting end to end and also for spacing apart at definite locations, means to connect said units end to end for said abutting and spacingv apart, means to Vmount said units for reciprocal longitudinal horizontal move` ments, a scraper mounted for vertical movements only at each of said Vintervening space locations `disposed above and across said dropping board to bear on top of the same as it passes beneath, and means to move all of said dropping board units longitudinally in both directions. f"

2. Hen-house, dropping-board cleaning mechanism consisting of a plurality of con'- nected dropping-board units disposed for abutting end to end and also for spacing apart between said ends, means to connect said units end to'end for said end abutting and spacing apart, means to mount said units for reciprocal longitudinal horizontal movements adapted to cause said intervening spaces at delinite locations, meansto move all of said units forward to provide all of said intervening spaces, means to move all of said units backward to close said spaces provided by said forward movements thereof, and a scraper mounted forpvertical movements only at each of said intervening space locations and at the rear end of the last of said units when at its said forward location disposed above and across said dropping board to bear on the upper surface thereof as it passes beneath.

3. Henhouse, dropping-board cleaning mechanism consisting of a plurality of dropping-board units relatively disposed for abutting end to end and also for spacing apart between said ends, means to mount sai'd units for reciprocal longitudinal horizontal movements adapted to cause said intervening spaces at definite locations when moved in one direction and to close said spaces when moved in the opposite direction, a scraper mounted for vertical movements only disposed above and across said dropping board at each of said intervening space locations and at the rear end of the last of said units when in its said forward location to bear on the upper surface of said dropping` board as its passes beneath, and a droppings holder beneath each of said scrapers.

4. A hen-housing dropping board cleaner consisting of a plurality of connected dropping-board units disposed for abutting and also for spacing apart by operative movements thereof, means to mount said units for longitudinal movements, a plurality of spaced Scrapers disposed across said dropping-board units to contact with the top surfaces thereof as they pass therebeneath, and

` means to mount said Scrapers for vertical reciproeation.

5. A hen-house dropping board cleaner including a plurality of units, means to connect the units for spacing apart and also for abutting end to end, means to mount said units for longitudinal movements, and a plurality of spaced scrapers disposed across the dropping board units to contact with the top surfaces thereof.

6. Hen-house dropping board cleaning mechanism including a plurality of connected dropping-board units adapted for abutting end to end and also for spacing apart, means to mount said units for reciprocative longitudinal movements, a plurality of spaced Scrapers mounted above said board units to contact therewith adapted for movements normal to said board units, and means to.-

move said board units longitudinally in both directions.

NIELS P. NIELSEN. 

